Primary Chemoprevention Still Lacks Favor with General Physicians and Patients

Research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's conference in 2007 indicated that both patients and primary care physicians were hesitant to adopt chemoprevention due to concerns about risks and a lack of clear patient identification. Studies showed infrequent use of chemopreventive agents like tamoxifen and raloxifene, with only 11% of physicians using tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention in a year. Physicians cited insufficient knowledge and time for discussions as barriers, while patients were concerned about side effects and questioned their risk levels. The difficulty in identifying high-risk patients and the perception that most would not benefit from chemoprevention contributed to its slow adoption. Additionally, a lack of detailed information for guiding patient conversations and public awareness were identified as significant obstacles.